CCSU Suspect, Prof's Son, Sorry About Military Outfit Scare

A 21-year-old student at Central Connecticut State University apologized Monday after creating a stir with his military-type Halloween costume that frightened other students.

David Kyem's costume, which included camouflage pants, a tactical vest, a mask, plastic sword and plastic handgun, prompted calls to 911 by other students of an armed man on campus about noon Monday, reported the Hartford Courant.

Kyem, the son of the university's geography professor Peter Kyem, told the Courant he only wore his costume to campus Monday because he could not fit it all in his backpack after a weekend trip to the University of Connecticut.

"I'm sorry for all the commotion and the fear and the confusion," Kyem said, according to the Courant. "I'm sorry for any problems. It's obviously a big misunderstanding."

Central Connecticut police charged Kyem Monday night with breach of peace and released him after he posted $1,000 bail.

Nicholas Federici, a Central Connecticut senior and a former police officer, told the Courant he was one of the people who called 911 and followed Kyem to James Hall.

"I could see a tactical vest — something I wore when I was on the SWAT team and in the Marine Corps," Federici, 28, who is also a military veteran, told the Courant. "These vests have a place to put your handgun. I could clearly see where the holster was and there was a handle coming out consistent with a semiautomatic handgun."

The university ordered a lockdown on campus, telling students through its website to stay in a sheltered play and that police was looking for a suspicious person, according to the New York Daily News.

Students and others described their concern about the lockdown on Twitter.